Blasts in Russia cut power to neighbor / Georgia's president sees Moscow's hand in explosions at transmission tower, pipeline

Peter Finn, Washington Post

Published 4:00 am, Monday, January 23, 2006

Photo: STRINGER/RUSSIA

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Russian Emergency Ministry workers inspect a pipeline which was knocked out overnight by two explosions in a mountainous part of North Ossetia, Russia January 22, 2006. Explosions in Russia's southern region of North Ossetia knocked out the main pipeline that exports Russian gas to Georgia and onward to its neighbour Armenia. REUTERS/Vladimir Ivanov Ran on: 01-23-2006
Russian emergency workers inspect a pipeline that was knocked out by two explosions in the mountains of North Ossetia. less

Russian Emergency Ministry workers inspect a pipeline which was knocked out overnight by two explosions in a mountainous part of North Ossetia, Russia January 22, 2006. Explosions in Russia's southern region of ... more

Photo: STRINGER/RUSSIA

Blasts in Russia cut power to neighbor / Georgia's president sees Moscow's hand in explosions at transmission tower, pipeline

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2006-01-23 04:00:00 PDT Moscow -- A pitched row erupted between Georgia and Russia on Sunday after explosions in southern Russia hit a pipeline and an electricity transmission tower, cutting off the supply of natural gas and reducing electricity supplies to Georgia as temperatures plunged in the country.

Russia's NTV showed footage of twisted and smoking pipelines in a mountain pass in the Russian republic of North Ossetia, which borders the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia.

Also Sunday, an explosion knocked out an electricity transmission tower in Russia, interrupting electricity supplies to Georgia. The Emergency Situations Ministry said the cause of that blast had not been determined.

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The Energy Ministry in Georgia, which has a poorly functioning electrical grid and uses natural gas to heat homes and power some industries, called the situation very difficult.

"We have enough gas for just one day," said Teona Doliashvili, a spokeswoman for the ministry.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Russia of being behind the explosions to punish his country, presumably for its pro-Western policies. The Russian Foreign Ministry, in response, said the allegation was "an instance of hysteria and bacchanalia."

Russian officials said that they were working to restore supplies as quickly as possible and that prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation into the explosions, which took place more than 200 miles apart.

In a statement, Saakashvili said that "while the acts remain under investigation, several circumstances raise serious questions for the authorities in the Russian Federation."

"Specifically, the gas pipeline explosions took place in a border area with the heavy presence of Russian security services and under strict Russian control," he said. "The explosions took place in a section of the pipe that did not disrupt supplies to Russian consumers -- only disrupting supplies to Georgia, which is 100 percent dependent on gas imports from Russia. Georgia has unfortunately faced politically motivated disruptions of energy supplies in the past and received numerous veiled and direct threats from a spectrum of political actors in the Russian Federation warning of the possibility of renewed energy disruptions this winter."

Saakashvili, whose relations with Russia have been strained since he came to power following a popular revolt more than two years ago, said Russia wants to control the pipeline network running through Georgia, which connects to Armenia. He called the disruption "a serious act of sabotage on the part of Russia on Georgia's energy system." But he offered no evidence for the allegation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted angrily to the charge.

"There is a certain mixture of dependency, hypocrisy and dissoluteness accompanied by the feeling of impunity in hopes of finding supporters for its anti-Russian policy in the West," the ministry said in a statement. "Their desire to search for enemies abroad to justify their own hapless efforts in bringing life in the country back to normal will take Georgia nowhere. And it is Georgian officials who should feel ashamed by the cynicism of this situation, where the Russian authorities have been accused of blowing up facilities on their own territory."

Officials in Armenia, an ally of Russia, said the country was using emergency reserves until the pipelines are repaired, which could take two or three days. Russian officials said they would try to pump extra gas to the affected countries via Azerbaijan.

The dispute follows a diplomatic standoff between Ukraine and Russia over the price of natural gas, which led the Russia state-controlled energy company Gazprom to cut off supplies to Ukraine. Supplies were quickly restored after the Russian move also led to reductions in the amount of gas reaching countries farther West.